Six vs Balto & KC: It's time for the Yanks to make a move

Suddenly, the Death Barge is firing. Gerrit Cole, the bullpen, the lineup, even the creatures of the bleachers. Yesterday, after we took a 3-0 lead, did anybody think the Yard Guards had a chance? They so couldn't wait to leave that some took their showers in the outfield. Elsewhere...

Cole. Admit it: You started to worry. That's how it goes with a beloved pet. If King gets out, you drive the neighborhood, calling his name. If Mittens isn't eating, neither will you. 

Players become our dogs, our soul mates, our best friends. Some last 15-20 years, providing great joy and inspiring boundless love. Some just cannot live on a leash. They get hit by the garbage truck. All that potential... they weren't meant to live on your lap.

It's irrational, the fear. You can't help yourself. The stakes are so high: A tweak or strain for Cole would be unbearable news. We need him to win 17 games, throw 180 innings and keep his ERA close to 3.00. If he does, we almost surely reach the postseason.   

Right now, the rotation is popping. If we can go a full cycle - rattle off a five or six-game streak - we could finish April in first. The Yankees need April. 

Le Pen. Let's give Cooperstown Cashman and his arm gurus credit. (Though surely, they already are taking it.) Last year, they touted "the Gas Station," their Tampa boot camp where spin doctors supposedly added mph to every live arm, along with sharper cuts to the curve. Last year, it sounded like junk science and typical YES bullshit.

But right now, we have a lights-out pen, quite possibly the best in baseball. If/when somebody falters, we have arms in Scranton awaiting the call. Right now, all we need is an early lead and three runs. From there, with King, Loaisiga, El Chapo, et al, we'll take our chances. (Though Chad Green is starting to worry me.)

Giancarlo. He's slumping. That's okay, because that's Stanton - up and down. Think of this: We just kicked the asses of the best team in the AL Central, with absolutely no help from our biggest bat. 

Gleyber. Against the Guards, he went 4-for-8 with two doubles and a walk. His average rose by 47 points - to .227. Dare we hope?

For the last three years, Torres has been the Yankee fulcrum point. If he recaptures the bat of 2019 - 38 HRs - most of our problems will vanish. If he continues to flounder - well - we might trade him for a box of buttons. This weekend, he looked good. And Saturday night, he celebrated with this lady, his wife, on Times Square. Oh, to be young. 

Gallo. He was red hot against Cleve: 2-for-11! His average is now .146! He achieved his mythic first RBI of 2022! Struck out only six times! Another few weeks of this, and I do believe the show will be canceled. 

Don't gemme wrong: I'm rooting for Gallo to show us something. But I'm looking at mid-May. If by - say - May 20, he's still horrible, there has to be a move. Locastro in LF? Miguel Andujar? A trade? Something. Mid-May. 

Trevino. Again, credit Cash. This guy might turn out to be the frontline catcher that Higgy just isn't. The fact that he caught Cole yesterday - and it worked - is huge. As battery mates, Higgy and Cole go all the way back to high school.  

When I see Trevino, all I can think is: Why, why, why did we stay so long with Gary Sanchez? 

Tonight. No game. Time to watch Netflix, before the password crackdown and the ads start kicking in. Tuesday, Balto visits for three, then we go to KC. Then shit turns real. Three in Toronto.